Open Access Publications
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Open access publications by faculty, postdocs, and graduate students in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
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Browsing Open Access Publications by Subject "3D printing"
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Item Polysiloxane Inks for Multimaterial 3d Printing of High-Permittivity Dielectric Elastomers(Advanced Functional Materials, 2023-12-27) Danner, Patrick M.; Pleij, Tazio; Siqueira, Gilberto; Bayles, Alexandra V.; Venkatesan, Thulasinath Raman; Vermant, Jan; Opris, Dorina M.Dielectric elastomer transducers (DET) are promising candidates for electrically-driven soft robotics. However, the high viscosity and low yield stress of DET formulations prohibit 3D printing, the most common manufacturing method for designer soft actuators. DET inks optimized for direct ink writing (DIW) produce elastomers with high stiffness and mechanical losses, diminishing the utility of DET actuators. To address the antagonistic nature of processing and performance constraints, principles of capillary suspensions are used to engineer DIW DET inks. By blending two immiscible polysiloxane liquids with a filler, a capillary ink suspension is obtained, in which the ink rheology can be tuned independently of the elastomer electromechanical properties. Rheometry is performed to measure and optimize processibility as a function of filler and secondary liquid fraction. Including polar polysiloxanes as the secondary liquid produces a printed elastomer exhibiting a four-fold permittivity increase over commercial polydimethylsiloxane. The characterization and multimaterial printing into layered DET devices demonstrates that the immiscible capillary suspension improves the processability of the inks and enhances the properties of the elastomers, enabling actuation of the devices at comparatively low voltages. It is anticipated that this formulation approach will allow soft robotics to harness the full potential of DETs.Item Scalable 3D-printed lattices for pressure control in fluid applications(AIChE Journal, 2021-09-23) Woodward, Ian R.; Attia, Lucas; Patel, Premal; Fromen, Catherine A.Additive manufacturing affords precise control over geometries with high degrees of complexity and predefined structure. Lattices are one class of additive-only structures which have great potential in directing transport phenomena because they are highly ordered, scalable, and modular. However, a comprehensive description of how these structures scale and interact in heterogeneous systems is still undetermined. To advance this aim, we designed cubic and Kelvin lattices at two sub-5-mm length scales and compared published correlations to the experimental pressure gradient in pipes ranging from 12 to 52 mm diameter. We further investigated all combinations of the four lattices to evaluate segmented combinatorial behavior. The results suggest that a single correlation can describe pressure behavior for different lattice geometries and scales. Furthermore, combining lattice systems in series has a complex effect that is sensitive to part geometry. Together, these developments support the promise for tailored, modular lattice systems at laboratory scales and beyond.